Eribon sets out to investigate his past, the history of his family, and the trajectory of his own life. His story weaves together a set of remarkable reflections on the class system in France, on the role of the educational system in class identity, on the way both class and sexual identities are formed, and on the recent history of French politics, including the shifting voting patterns of the working classes¿reflected by Eribon¿s own family, which changed its allegiance from the Communist Party to the National Front.

"An eminent Parisian intellectual, gay and politically progressive, from a conservative, working -- class provincial family, Didier Eribon has written a book that will be of great interest to those concerned with questions of social class, sexuality, and intellectual community. Returning to Reims is a fascinating and courageous account of how one of France's leading writers has negotiated a complex, frequently conflicted confluence of social and psychic identities." -- Leo Bersani, author of Homos and coauthor of Intimacies "This intensely personal account of Didier Eribon's family is a fascinating and compelling read...The book is beautifully written (and as beautifully translated). It is at once pleasureable and edifying to read." -- Joan W. Scott, Institute for Advanced Study